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5.0 out of 5 stars
An End - Review, March 3, 2003
This review is from: an end. (Paperback)
An End - Review Some say that I good book will change the way a person looks on life. A book is somewhat of a companion. It follows the reader around, enjoys a day in the park being read, gets beat around in an old backpack, and it could be quietly absorbed in that coffee shop down the street. Books present the reader with the ultimate entertainment, imagination. This book lit a spark that fueled the fires of imagination somewhere inside of me. If there was ever a book that you just couldn't put down, it is An End. It made me want to be the one called Whistler. I wanted to be there, to save the world, and it also made me empathetic towards the characters if something went awry. Sometimes authors focus too much on detail and the book becomes drab and boring. Paul Hughes found a way to catch my attention and keep it throughout the piece. What really intrigued me about the style of this book is the order. The story goes from future, to present, to past, and back again. It will astound any reader to see how it works out. Only a genius mind could write a book that way and make it work. Paul has done just that. I wouldn't offer this book to someone that doesn't want an intellectual experience, however. If you are looking for a challenging book that will make you think I suggest An End. This piece of writing will grab you, tease you, and at times confuse you on a journey to An End. -Scott Winchell [winch]
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it!, July 10, 2006
This review is from: an end. (Paperback)
I don't want to spoil anything, but I had the pleasure of reading this immediately after Hughes' novel enemy, the first in a trilogy. an end is the second in the trilogy and it one hell of a follow up to the first book. This novel is literary, intelligent and also an entertaining work of speculative fiction, a rare combination in such a novel. an end dances between the past, the future, and the present and the reader is never confused as to where they should be. I read this very quickly and I my mind was dancing as I read it, mentally stimulating. Nicely done.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
An End with an edge, December 12, 2002
This review is from: an end. (Paperback)
In the realm of science fiction, there are two issues that seperate epic novels from detail-driven technical series dime novels: The accurate and researched use of science and the mastery of fiction-as-a-vehicle. It's not as easy as it sounds. Author Paul Hughes has succesfully created both a solid novella and injected something new into a genre seemingly without boundaries. What if God was on equal footing with the devil? What if the battle of ultimate creator vs. ultimate destroyer was one of complete attrition and victory for either side was a plauisble scenario. Hughes has pushed the boundaries of fiction with An End and forces the reader to deal with a multitude of questions regarding that conflict. A cast of characters drawn from smaller, less divine influences combine with a writing catalyst best described as a mix of Hemingway simplicty and Harold Robbins paragraph breaks to absorb the reader into a tumultuous story of the ultimate end. Being experimental as a writer is as bold a venture as trying to re-invent Catholicism but Hughes is not afraid to take risks with flashbacks, wrap-arounds and even a littany of recollection and foresight that encompasses an entire chapter in a liquid sphere of circular thought patterns. Many writers of the genre rely on flashbacks as a fallback position to solid stream-of-conciousness skill and writing logistically well prepared plot lines. Hughes uses flashback and reversals like a Samurai wields a katana. There is mastery there and not something learned in a college writing seminar. Hughes rips through the novel and creates a picture solid and clean and even sterile in it's presentation but the reader will discover quickly that the initial interpretation has yet to feel the blade that comes with the later chapters. At the end of An End, the reader will discover that Hughes has let the sword fly and with skill and master of the edge, he has sliced and disassembled the intial picture and it all falls into a pile revealing a core of silver confusion and the inevitable resolution of that conflict.
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